Meister Drops Out of Ill Senate Race

Gay attorney Jacob Meister is pulling out of the Illinois U.S. Senate race and throwing his support behind state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, the Chicago Sun-Times's Lynn Sweet reports.

"Alexi is well ahead in the polls," Meister told Sweet. "He's going to be our party's nominee and I think we need to come together around him."

Meister said he is confident that Giannoulias is committed to the causes he supports, including ending "don't ask, don't tell" and repealing the Defense of Marriage Act. David Hoffman, another candidate for the Democratic nomination, also has spoken out in support of marriage equality, but Meister said he is concerned about the fact that Hoffman once clerked for conservative U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist.